Milk

Milk was recognized as the official state beverage of South Carolina in 1984. Dairy farms are found in almost every county of South Carolina, and the dairy industry is a 100 million dollar enterprise for the state.

Milk has been called a nearly perfect food - a source of protein, calcium, and several other important nutrients. Each dairy cow produces about 6.5 gallons of milk per day. Less than half of this milk is consumed as a beverage - the rest is used for butter, cheese, ice cream, milk powder and other processed products.